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Maeltir Short Stories
Aggressive negotiations Aresowit waited aboard the deck while the negotiations continued. The Captain was always too fond of democracy. Especially with the Kroyons, of all things. The ancient foe of the Kronocs. Aresowit could not wait to send his marines aboard and spill some slime those evil bugs used for blood. It had been a long patrol, and very little shooting had been needed. He called the marines to the boarding vessel. The computer could tell him negotiations from there. The Hive attacks The assault began. Maeltir had been sending troops to the planet of Qwretzia for weeks. There were legions of M-2000s, Kronocs, Golems and Gryme, all armed with heavy weaponry and melee weapons for the inevitable landing force. The M-2000s wielded their SMART-Missile Launchers and their inbuilt retractable titanium claws. The Kronocs with shotguns and machine guns, and their hand-to-hand steel machetes. The Golems carried heavy machine guns that had been specially construched for explosive rounds, and heavy flamers. When it came to hand-to-hand, they preferred their stone fists. The Gryme bore their armour-peircing combat rifles, and their ancestral clubs, reinforced with energy shielding, of course. The occasional Mental roamed the desert by the city- ten had been authorised, as the deadliest weapon in the Maeltir armoury. Their capacity to adapt meant they could distract several thousand Kroyons and still come out on top. Sharpened claws and powerful jaws, injected with venom, could rend most armour, and stop Brutes in their tracks. Their powerful musculature allowed them to close distances quickly, stopping targets with ranged weapons from gaining too much use from them. Finally, of course, their extreme regeneration rates rendered them immune to all but the most excessive attacks. Dozens of heavy cruisers patrolled the system, reinforced with a heavy battleship and three long range munitions platforms, all ready for the Kroyon hive fleet to arrive. Dommindo defence sattelites roamed the skies, ready to pick off any ship that made it past the task force. Even a couple of Naglend Wazpz had taken the time to show up. Clearly, this was going to be a huge hive fleet- possibly commanded by a Kroyon Queen. The Wazpz never intervened unless they needed to. The first Kroyon vessel leapt out of warp into the system. Six cruisers moved in to intercept. As they moved into firing range, Drones and Wraiths swarmed out of the Hives to attack the Maeltir ships. Squads of fighters leapt out of the hangars to meet them. Plasma shots fired from the fighters and larger battle cruisers destroyed dozens of Drones, but still more flooded out to attack. Heavy laser batteries mounted on the hulls of the cruisers fired again and again at the Wraiths. The Kroyons were taking heavy casualties, but there were still a great many getting through. Fighters began to succumb to the overwhelming tide, breaking formations and scattering to dogfight. One of the cruisers sent a four fusion missiles trailing towards the hive ship. Three were stopped by Wraiths, giving their lives to ensure the safety of the hiveship. But one found it's mark, puncturing the organic matter of the ship and sending Workers and Humanoids spilling out into the vacuum of space. Another hiveship arrived in system, followed soon after by another five in quick succession. The final one was somewhat larger, and escorted by more Drones and Wraiths. The remaining cruisers moved in to intercept, as did the battleship. The munitions platforms opened fire with high-powered X-ray lasers and long range fusion missiles, all aimed at the Queen's vessel- the priority target. The expendable Drones moved to take most of the damage, and Wraiths began to head to attack the ships. The Wazpz also began to aim their own energy blasts at the Queen's ship, powerful enough to blast clean through the Drones bodies, and carving huge smoking tracks into the hive's armour. Clearly, more firepower was needed. Several fighters had been taken down now, although still inflicting heavy casualties on the Drones, and taking out their share of Wraiths, too. Stories to be finished.